AS FAR AS our cultural understanding of “civility” goes, we live in strange times. George W. Bush’s presidential library implores us to “engage in civil dialogue.” Mike Pence rails against his ex-boss’s “siren song.” We are called to remember the likes of Ronald Reagan as one of the last leaders of an era of bipartisanship, honor, and civility. When politicians invoke civility, it’s usually cynically, as they aim to whitewash their reputations, or, worse, silence desperate cries for racial and economic justice. To heed this crowd’s exhortations toward civility would be, by any just standard, uncivil.
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